Curved tooth roller type land clearing machine combined with tooth cleaner



May 30, 1950 E. c. WADE 2,509,453

CURVED TOOTH ROLLER TYPE LAND CLEARING MACHINE COMBINED WITH TOOTH CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 28, 1947 .Q\ m u o T. m m\ \R M w W M Q m I a a w w w 0 Q Q Q o W Q ww mm .u j 1 mm W Q. Q: 6 a? iii;

May 30, 1950 E. c. WADE CURVED TOOTH ROLLER TYPE LAND CLEARING MACHINE COMBINED WITH TOOTH CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28, 1947 3 sm Q w Patented May 30, 1950 TATES 1 :CURVED TOOTH ROLLER TYPE LAND CLEARING, MACHINE COMBINED WITH TOOTH CLEANER Elmer C. Wadef NewYork, 'N. Y.

Application May. 28, 1947;1Seria1 No. 750,911

The invention relates to la'ndclearing apparatus, and, particularly, .tothat class of such apparatus arranged to remove from beneath the topsoil. of cut-over land smallstumps and roots .oftreesjbushes, and other plants, and also small detached stones.

.The present invention covers. apparatus suited to be employed in a land-clearing operation after the landhasbeen surfaceecleared or cut over by an apparatus such as'that described and claimed in my co-pending application, in the United States Patent Ofiice, bearing Serial Number 750,912, filed the 28th. day. of May, 1947.

The object, in part, isto, provide a new, simple,

rugged, andlpracticala paratuswhich may be 1 Claim. (01. 97-52) The apparatus is;.also useful for the purpose of My invention contemplates; an apparatusthat,

as a' trailer elementfor a tractor, orfthelike, will automatically probe for, "engage, and ,dislodge small stumps and roots and other debris, with0ut requiring selective attention on the part ofan operator other than that associated with guiding the apparatus over land in a track pattern appropriate to the topography of the area to be worked. Manual excavating, cutting, and dislodging small stumps and roots is obviated by use of 'the apparatus of my invention, thereby enabling, in many cases, a tractor driver to handle this type of land-clearing operation without a helper.

In thedrawings:

Figsal, 2, and 3 are, respectively, partly. erased side elevational, rear elevational, and top plan views of atypical embodiment of my invention, showing an apparatus arranged to be towed by a tractor.

Fig. 4 is a partly erased side elevational view of that part of the apparatus near and including the part erased in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a typical member 2lseen fully,,without interference from adjacent members as in Fig. 1.

Ihave adopted as one practical reduction of my. invention a form of apparatus comprising, inessence, a.trailer'frame arranged tobe towed by a'tractor; land clearingmeans carried on and within saidframe, and more particularly described below; a .retractable dolly pivotal-1y mounted at the rearend of saidframe, and arranged to serve, whenposition ed as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, as asupportfortherear end-of the frame high enough to ;prevent Qthelandclearing means from engaging theground-When the apparatusis being wheeledetotand ironra site of a land-clearingoperation; andhydraulie means for selectively .positioning said dolly,arrangedso .thatthe rear of.the,-irame maybe raised relatively with respect to Ythesurface of the ground to an extent sufficient fully to disengage from the topsoilthe land-clearing means carried in a fixed position with respecttoj the frame, or so that the. rear ofitheframe may-be lowered to thatextent that the full weight of the frame and its membersnot depending, say, upon the tractor coupling. for support,.may be applied upon that part or the lan'declearing means in contact with the cart/hand that. nopart of the weight will be borne by the dolly, which may, in fact, be actually, outaofcontactwiththe topsoil.

The typical apparatus shown in the drawings is, of course, a trailer without integralmeans of locomotion; but'it willbeunderstood,thatthe invention may be embodied in other forms of apparatus having integral jmea'ns of locomotion.

For example, the invention could be reduced practically as a fixed part ofatfactor.

It is, of course, desirable thatwhatever form of apparatus'be adopted forreducingthe invjene tion to practice, means be provided .toi'jenfder it possible to transport the apparatus to and from a site of. alarm-clearing ,operation withithe land-clearing means in an inoperative position with respect to a'road' or other surface overwhich the apparatusis moved in orderto avoid Sc'a'rifying such surface. While meanspther than the dolly, here shown, are feasible, none are illustrated as they are obvious. ,jltwill lee-understood thatthe dolly-if a wheeled. meansfon supporting the rear end of jthegflfianie. beadoptedima reduction of the invention to practice-need. not be permanently attached to, the apparatus,.. as shown on. the drawings; for a detachable; rather than a retractable, dollywouldserve equivalent ly. Also itwillbe apparentjthatltheentire apparatus, if not, provided with, meansjfor wheeling it to and from a work. site,. could. -be,transported inoperatively on the -deckjof..a truck or truck trailer.

With reference nowtoljthe drawings, Ihave adopted as illustrative or the invention a form of apparatus arranged .tobetowed by aitractor, shown to'be basically a frame I, pentagonalin shape, and with its operativenmeans carried within and-on the frame after.the.manner.-of many agricultural implements, vsuch as -cultivators and planters. {The frame, L-may suitably be constructed of channel stock, either welded or bolted together to form a rigid chassis.

The front end of the frame I is provided with a tongue 2, perforated at 3 to receive a king pin or other convenient member for pivotally attaching the frame to a towing tractor or the like.

To the rear of a cross member 4 of the frame, and pivotally attached to and beneath rearward extensions 5, 5, of the frame (cf. Figs. 1, 2 and 3), I provide the retractable dolly abovementioned.

The dolly consists in a rigid U-shaped frame comprising two members 5, one on either side of the rear of the frame I and beneath an extension 5, and a connecting cross bar, or shaft, I; and two wheel-mounts 8, each carrying a stubshaft 9 and wheel I0, and each provided with a shock-absorber II fitted between the wheelmount 8 and the dolly frame member 6.

Each member 6 is pivotally attached at I2 to the under side of its related frame extension 5, so that the members 6, 6, together with the cross bar, or shaft, 1, and the parts carried by the the dolly frame, may be rotated (clockwise, as seen in Fig. 1) for the purpose of raising and lowering the rear end of the frame I.

The wheel-mounts 8, 8, are pivotally attached to the cross bar, or shaft I, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

I have indicated a ground surface line as G in Figs. 1 and 2. When the dolly is positioned as shown in these two figures it will be seen that no other parts of the apparatus are in contact with the surface of the topsoil or of a road, for example, so that the apparatus may be wheeled inoperatively when desired.

On the cross member 45 I provide a manually operable hydraulic pump I3 connected by tubes I4 and I5 to a cylinder I6, pivotally mounted to a bracket I'I fixed to the rear vertical surface of the cross member 4. The cylinder I5 is suitably provided with a piston, the rod I8 of which is pivotally connected to the cross bar, or shaft, 1, at I9. When liquid is pumped through one tube into cylinder I 6 by means of the pump I3 the dolly is lowered; through the other tube, raised.

Within the frame I, and arranged transversely thereto at, arbitrarily, about the fore-and-aft center thereof, I provide a drum 20, carried on a shaft 2| which is supported on either side of the frame I by boxes 22, 22. The cylindrical surface of the drum 20 is provided with a number of curved radially disposed spikes 23, arranged in cylindrical series of rows, each row being parallel to the axis of shaft 2i, and the spikes of each alternate row being staggered with respect to those of the adjacent rows, as shown.

A series of parallel, sinuous, and circuitous slots 24 are provided around the cylindrical surface of the drum, each such slot weaving from side to side, threading between two spikes of each row, as it is continued around the drum.

Pivotally carried on shaft 25, the ends of which are supported in boxes 26, 26, on the frame I to the rear of boxes 22, 22, and of the drum 20, are a series of member 27, there being one such member 21 provided for each slot. 24. lhe members 21, one of which is shown in top plan view in Fig. 5, serve as strippers; each member 2'! is a tapering, spoon-shaped element, having a reinforcing ridge 28 on the forwardly disposed, or concave side, with the forwardly disposed extremity being shouldered at 29, 29, to provide a finger, or tracing element, 30, arranged to engage and ride in a related slot 24. Each member 21 is held in tensioned engagement with its related slot 24 by means of a spring 3|, as shown, attached to the top of the member 21 above the shaft 25 and to the cross member 4 of the frame i. Each member 21 is free to move axially on shaft 25.

When the apparatus is over ground where a land-clearing operation is to be performed, the dolly is suitably retracted until the frame is sufficiently lowered to cause the downwardly disposed spikes 23 of the drum 20 to touch and enter the topsoil. To insure proper penetration of the earth the entire available weight of the apparatus, not dependent for support upon the coupling connecting the front end of the apparatus to, say, a tractor, is preferably permitted to bear upon the ends of the downwardly disposed spikes. For this reason the dolly may be retracted until the rear of the frame I is entirely dependent for support upon the drum 2!! and its spikes 23, and the dolly itself actually out of contact with the ground.

Also, the drum 28 may be constructed of heavy material and suitably weighted: for example, the drum may be made watertight, and means may be provided whereby the drum may be temporarily loaded with water to add considerable weight to the load upon the spikes 23 and thereby insure proper penetration of the topsoil.

As the apparatus is towed over the land the drum 20 is revolved by the rack-and-pinion engagement between the earth and the drum; the rows of spikes are successively brought into contact with the topsoil, are forced into it, and into or near roots and the like; and as the spikes are successively withdrawn from the earth, carrying roots and other objects, and proceed past the members 21, objects caught on or between and entangled among the spikes are stripped off and dropped to the surface of the ground behind the apparatus. Obviously, as the drum 20 rotates, the slots 24 cause the members 21 to oscillate from side to side in a chopping motion which is desirable in breaking off or loosening objects attached to the spikes or drum.

I claim:

A land clearing machine, comprising a frame,

a shaft having end bearings on the frame, a cy-- lindrical drum mounted to turn on the shaft, a series of curved ground engaging spikes disposed radially on the drum, the drum being formed with sinuous slots located between the inner ends of the spikes, a cross bar on said frame, a series of spring pressed strippers pivotally supported on the cross bar and tracers on the forward ends of said strippers riding in said slots, whereby said strippers will be caused to move laterally to disengage debris carried by the drum and spikes.

ELMER C. WADE.

REFERENQE S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 569,630 Frost Oct. 20, 1896 855,075 Thomas May 28, 1907 911,417 Maley Feb. 2, 1909 921,357 Brown May 11, 1909 1,801,923 Kella Apr. 21, 1931 2,300,851 Wolfard Nov. 3, 1942 

